Gary Michael Capetta announces this is Zenk's NWA debut, so this can't be long after his leaving the WWF due to an alleged pay dispute. Zenk takes an early advantage over the Assassin with some typical fiery babyface offence. Messers Ross and Cornette on commentary give the Z-Man some verbal fellatio, as Zenk keeps the advantage with several armdrags. Assassin gets in a small modicum of offence, but misses a diving headbutt from the second rope. The match is pretty much a showcase squash for Zenk, who looks good throughout- he's got superb dropkicks and he works the end sequence well, reversing Assassin holds and niftily putting on a sleeper for the win. This is the best Zenk has looked in EDILTZ so far, because he was given a role in the match that let him showcase his abilities. A good sign.
Z-Man vs Cuban Assassin
Friday, 24 September 2010
Monday, 13 September 2010
TNA Webmatches: Episodes 4-6
Madison Rayne vs Roxxi
Here we go with another batch of webmatches. This match is a prime example of why the webmatches are such a good idea. Both girls can go in the ring and they get the chance to put on a solid little match. Roxxi is definitely over with the Impact Zone and gets the early advantage with a tough looking big boot before a missed crossbody lets Madison take over. Rayne isn't quite as solid in ring as Roxxi, but she's got more presence, and is really convincing as a bitch who wants to beat and hurt her opponent- she's got a nasty way of really putting effort into backrakes, while also showing her will to win with repeated pins. The ending fits in with this too- Madison gets frustrated at not getting the pin and tries a top rope move which misses. Roxxi hits a sweet overhead suplex for two, but the Voodoo Drop is enough for three.
Brutus Magnus vs Homicide
Magnus is still working the Gladiator gimmick at this point, when he was still British Racing green. Magnus is one of the few guys who has noticeably improved in TNA, but it'll be interesting to see how much Homicide needs to carry him here. Magnus actually looks pretty good right from the start and it's noticeable how much effort he's putting into his match, especially during a quick opening exchange running the ropes. The match is criminally short, but barring a 15 second chinlock from Magnus, is very fast paced and they work a decent series of reversals before Homicide gets the Gringo Cutter for 3. They worked very well together here and both looked good.
ODB vs Raisha Saeed
This is the most watched TNA webmatch with over 160,000 views. TNA massively missed the boat on ODB, the crowd absolutely loved her. Saeed gets the advantage from the off by sneak attacking ODB. Saeed continues to dominate with a curb stomp, which is the best way to work the match as ODB's ring work isn't great. Saeed works ODB over with a single-leg crab, which is again effective in getting the crowd vocal behind ODB. ODB fires back with a series of shoulderblocks before hitting a running powerslam for three. Not a great match, but effective as the superior Saeed carried the bulk of the work, which the popular face got to look good with some quick, devastating offence.
Here we go with another batch of webmatches. This match is a prime example of why the webmatches are such a good idea. Both girls can go in the ring and they get the chance to put on a solid little match. Roxxi is definitely over with the Impact Zone and gets the early advantage with a tough looking big boot before a missed crossbody lets Madison take over. Rayne isn't quite as solid in ring as Roxxi, but she's got more presence, and is really convincing as a bitch who wants to beat and hurt her opponent- she's got a nasty way of really putting effort into backrakes, while also showing her will to win with repeated pins. The ending fits in with this too- Madison gets frustrated at not getting the pin and tries a top rope move which misses. Roxxi hits a sweet overhead suplex for two, but the Voodoo Drop is enough for three.
Brutus Magnus vs Homicide
Magnus is still working the Gladiator gimmick at this point, when he was still British Racing green. Magnus is one of the few guys who has noticeably improved in TNA, but it'll be interesting to see how much Homicide needs to carry him here. Magnus actually looks pretty good right from the start and it's noticeable how much effort he's putting into his match, especially during a quick opening exchange running the ropes. The match is criminally short, but barring a 15 second chinlock from Magnus, is very fast paced and they work a decent series of reversals before Homicide gets the Gringo Cutter for 3. They worked very well together here and both looked good.
ODB vs Raisha Saeed
This is the most watched TNA webmatch with over 160,000 views. TNA massively missed the boat on ODB, the crowd absolutely loved her. Saeed gets the advantage from the off by sneak attacking ODB. Saeed continues to dominate with a curb stomp, which is the best way to work the match as ODB's ring work isn't great. Saeed works ODB over with a single-leg crab, which is again effective in getting the crowd vocal behind ODB. ODB fires back with a series of shoulderblocks before hitting a running powerslam for three. Not a great match, but effective as the superior Saeed carried the bulk of the work, which the popular face got to look good with some quick, devastating offence.
Sunday, 12 September 2010
Zero-One Truth Century Creation 2003
Right, straight off the bat I'm going to be honest: I've never really got into Puroresu. Actually, that is a slight lie. After all, I loved watching NJPW on Eurosport 15 years ago, but that had English commentary which really helped my 13yr old self understand it, and it was a long time ago. There are some Japanese wrestlers I love- Lyger, Hayabusa, Onryo etc, so I know I should give it a proper go. I've ordered a few DVD's for $3 a pop which I'm looking forward to arriving, but in the interim, I'm going to give a proper go to some of the Puro tapes I bought years back and never properly watched. Bare with me if I show undue ignorance to styles and to wrestlers, I'm learning.
Ikuto Hidaka vs Pentagon
A good starting point here, I've seen Hidaka wrestling in MLW so i know who he is and what to expect. Pentagon I assume is somehow related to Octagon, due to the name and his near identical costume. I liked the way they tested each other out on the mat before Hidaka went into another gear and started properly assaulting the knee of Pentagon. I didn't like the way Pentagon no-sold it seconds later by backflipping from the top rope onto his feet, especially as it comes into play in the ending. Hidaka reminds me of an angry small child, which I love. Hidaka hits a swank tornado DDT off the ropes and Pentagon brings some goods himself with a colossal splash mountain. Hidaka gets a rolling heel hook for the immediate tapout, which may have felt less anti-climactic if Pentagon has sold his leg earlier in the match.
Don Arakawa & Jun Kasai vs Fuyuki Takahashi & Shinsuke Z Yamagasa
Kasai seems to be working a chimp gimmick, which I only pray he always uses. Arakawa provides instructions from the apron. Don tags in and goes woozy after dishing out a series of headbutts to Takahashi and I realise we may be in comedy match territory, which I admittedly should have spotted when a man came out acting like a chimp. Kasai slips on his own bananas just to hammer the point home. Takahashi and Yamagasa both seem to have some decent offence but you spend their time on attack waiting for Kasai to start acting the fool again. Don hits a succession of eye-pokes on a downed Takahashi but gets caught in the ropes attempting to leap on Yamagasa. Kasai is the star of the match- not only does he nail the comedy with a straight face, he also has some nice crisp offence and finishes the match with a sharp series of kicks.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Vansack Acid vs Low-Ki & Paul London
Another dose of guys I know to help ease me into this. Both team have similar looks, with each having a floppy-haired pretty boy and a balding grump. Takaiwa wins me over pretty quickly by taking a nasty bump to the outside. A series of dives from the apron ends with London hitting a running shooting star press that launches him like a missile. London puts forth a great showing in this match, not only with some perfectly executed moves (his rolling Northern Lights suplex is outstanding), but also the little things like kicking Acid's hand to stop him blocking a stomp to the shoulder from Ki. The two Americans dominate Acid who doesn't really offer much offence aside from a few kicks. Takaiwa fares better, working a nice exchange with Ki over an octopus stretch and possessing a good, painful-looking lariat. Towards the end London gets to hit London Calling, which I still think looks better than Evan Bourne's SSP, but Takaiwa hits him with a double powerbomb into a DVD which is enough for 3. Not mind-blowing, but a pretty enjoyable match.
Kendo Kashin, Kaz Hayashi & Ryuji Hijikata vs Naohiro Hoshikawa, Kazhiko Ogasawara & Yoshihito Sasaki
My WCW fandom ensures I know Kaz and I'm familiar with Kashin from the few other Puro tapes I've seen. He seems like a dick, which I appreciate. As if to prove this, he barges past his teammates during their pre-match interview. A little research informed me that Hoshikawa suffered a brain injury in 2004 and fell into a coma, which is horrible news, though apparently he's in far better shape now than he was for the first few years following. This is AJPW vs Zero-One and starts with a massive brawl before the announcer can identify people, forcing me to Google Image Search the 3 Zero-One guys to find out who is who. The overriding story in this match is that Kashin is an ever bigger dickhead than I thought. Hoshikawa wins me over almost straight away, proving to be a stiff fucker with a lethal arsenal of kicks. Ogasawara is less impressive, barely getting up for two Hayashi backbreakers or a Hijikata judo throw. Kashin's dickery starts early and gets worse, biting the hands of Hoshikawa to break a headlock and pulling the ropes in an attempt to stop Sasaki reaching the ropes to break a submission. I like the fact that Kendo's glory-hunting nearly backfires- Kashin pulls his own partner Hayashi off of Sasaki to try and get the pin himself, only to nearly get pinned following a spear. However, Kashin rallies and gets a cross-armbreaker to get the win for himself, and his team, in a master display of knobbishness.
Tengu Kaiser vs Akio Kobayashi
I've never seen either of these chaps, so this is a new one for me. Kaiser has a sort of Hayabusa look going on, though the mask features a curious looking ski jump nose. The match is pretty bloody poor, all due to Kobayashi, who offered nothing more than a few kicks and was happy to plod about in between them. Kaiser slipped while attempting a springboard move, but was a lot crisper with his kicking and selling, and hit a dazzling Phoenix splash-esque move to win. I got the impression Kaiser could have a good match with a better opponent. This was four minutes but felt much longer.
Masato Tanaka & Kohei Sato vs Daisuke Ikeda & Takashi Sugiura
This is another interpromotional match, this time Z1 vs NOAH, and all four men go at it from the opening bell. Tanaka ends up getting involved in slugfests with both Ikeda and Sugiura, and end up winning both of them. Sato looks like a gangly kid compared to the others and it's no surprise that he ends up as face-in-peril, taking a spike piledriver on the floor. This leads to a fun spot where Ikeda and Sugiura keep picking Sato up from the mat, only to club him back down Demolition-style. The tag sees Tanaka come in like there is Hell to pay, but soon he too is getting beaten by the NOAH team. The second hot tag of the match leads to an exciting ending sprint where all four men are in and out of the ring, all hitting moves that could conceivably finish it: Sato hits a huge German suplex on Ikeda, Tanaka hits a Superfly splash also on Ikeda, who blocks his second attempt with a musclebuster that also only gets two. The finishing sequence sees Sugiura dominating Tanaka, including dumping over his shoulder him onto his neck, only to get hit with a Roaring Elbow for the flash pin. Unlike Kaiser/Kobayashi which felt twice as long as it was, this felt much shorter than it actually was with all four men looking impressive.
Matt Ghaffari, Steve Corino & King Adamo vs Yoshiaka Fujiwara, Wataru Sakata & Katsuhisa Fujii
Corino's team are an odd bunch, Adamo being a tubby grass-skirt wearing savage and Ghaffari being a massive former Olympian. The opening moments see Corino stooging like an old pro for the Japanese team, working a fun headlock spot with the veteran Fujiwara, then exchanging (and losing) strikes with Fujii, who seemed to be working a striker gimmick. Adamo plays the part of a simpleton well (imagine Eugene in Umaga's body), even if he manages to almost botch a stinkface by missing Fujiwara's head. The story behind the match is that the Japanese team are almost powerless against Ghaffari, due to both his size and his Olympic wrestling background, though his moveset consists almost entirely of shoddy looking throws. There is a fun spot where Ghaffari is about to finish off Sakata, only for the simple-minded Adamo to blind tag himself in, to the rage of Ghaffari. However, Ghaffari does pick up the win later with a splash (on which he gets no air) on Sakata. The story and comedy took priority over the ringwork here, but it was at least entertaining.
Yoshihiro Takayama & Hirotaka Yokoi vs The Predator & Jimmy Snuka Jr
Oh great, it's Deuce. We get a pre-match interview from the Predator where he essentially threatens to beat Takayama to a pulp. In the ring, we get to see the full extent of their animosity as they start off with...a test of strength. Then another one, and what promised to be a violent brawl ends up coming off as a damp squib. Against all odds, it's Snuka who impresses most, dominating the smaller Yokoi and hitting a decent slingshot legdrop, before tying Yokoi up in the ropes with a headscissors. Even when he messes up by slipping on an attempted springboard move, he doesn't retry the spot, but opts instead to simply run at his opponent and hurl himself at him. The match follows a basic formula which sees Predator always dominate Yokoi and Takayama always dominate Snuka, but they're pretty much evenly balanced against each other. Takayama gets the win with a big German suplex on Snuka, but Predator takes exception to this and brawls into the crowd with Takayama, sadly showing more aggression and gumption than at any point during the match.
Naoya Ogawa vs Tom Howard
Howard is representing UPW from California, and looks like the guy you'd get to play Guile in a straight-to-DVD Streetfighter II movie. After Howard opens the match by blowing smoke in Ogawa's face (a nice dick move), they work a quick exchange where Ogawa counters all Howard's moves, but Howard takes over with a nice thrustkick to the jaw. Howard puts Ogawa in a leglock which seems to last for hours, as Ogawa S-L-O-W-L-Y inches towards the ropes, but makes absolutely no effort to sell any pain in his leg. Howard then locks in a sleeper, which nearly puts Ogawa away, only for Ogawa to power up and hit Howard with 6 (6!) consecutive STO's to prompt cornerman Steve Corino to throw in the towel. An absolute waste of my time, Howard looked decent in parts, but Ogawa brought nothing to the match.
Shinya Hashimoto & Shinjiro Otani vs Keiji Mutoh & Arashi
Main event time, and it has a definite big match feel, the crowd are noticeably buzzing. Hashimoto and Mutoh start, which only heightens the anticipation, as they gingerly feel each other out, before both tagging out. Likewise, Arashi and Otani, though being more attacking than their partners, don't commit themselves too much, until the Mutoh/Arashi team get an advantage on Otani, at which point their offence really kicks off with a Mutoh Power Elbow. They then work over the leg of Otani, with Mutoh hitting some vicious looking dropkicks to the knee followed by a figure four. Hashimoto is brought in on a hot tag, and successfully blocks a Shining Wizard attempt by Mutoh, but gets caught with a Dragon Screw which puts him in peril. A returning Otani works over Arashi in the corner with some NASTY bootscrapes and a facewash, and the match really starts to heat up. All four men end up in the ring and all four men up on the mat following a series of dropkicks. Arashi works over Hashimoto to allow him to hit a powerbomb on the big man, and Mutoh leaps over the pinfall attempt to hit a huge Shining Wizard on Otani, who was trying to stop the pin, though Arashi only gets two. Mutoh hits another Wizard on Hashimoto then, in a nice touch, ties up Otani with a figure four, leaving Arashi free to hit a top rope splash on Hashi for two. This leads to the ending sequence where Hashimoto gets Arashi in a triangle choke, while Otani has Mutoh in a chickenwing next to them. In a really nice touch, Mutoh keeps fighting, not to escape the hold he's in, but to get an arm over to break the choke on Arashi, really selling how much trouble he knows his partner is in, which is emphasized when Arashi submits moments later. Really enjoyable main event match with really big match atmosphere AND a satisfying conclusion.
Ikuto Hidaka vs Pentagon
A good starting point here, I've seen Hidaka wrestling in MLW so i know who he is and what to expect. Pentagon I assume is somehow related to Octagon, due to the name and his near identical costume. I liked the way they tested each other out on the mat before Hidaka went into another gear and started properly assaulting the knee of Pentagon. I didn't like the way Pentagon no-sold it seconds later by backflipping from the top rope onto his feet, especially as it comes into play in the ending. Hidaka reminds me of an angry small child, which I love. Hidaka hits a swank tornado DDT off the ropes and Pentagon brings some goods himself with a colossal splash mountain. Hidaka gets a rolling heel hook for the immediate tapout, which may have felt less anti-climactic if Pentagon has sold his leg earlier in the match.
Don Arakawa & Jun Kasai vs Fuyuki Takahashi & Shinsuke Z Yamagasa
Kasai seems to be working a chimp gimmick, which I only pray he always uses. Arakawa provides instructions from the apron. Don tags in and goes woozy after dishing out a series of headbutts to Takahashi and I realise we may be in comedy match territory, which I admittedly should have spotted when a man came out acting like a chimp. Kasai slips on his own bananas just to hammer the point home. Takahashi and Yamagasa both seem to have some decent offence but you spend their time on attack waiting for Kasai to start acting the fool again. Don hits a succession of eye-pokes on a downed Takahashi but gets caught in the ropes attempting to leap on Yamagasa. Kasai is the star of the match- not only does he nail the comedy with a straight face, he also has some nice crisp offence and finishes the match with a sharp series of kicks.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Vansack Acid vs Low-Ki & Paul London
Another dose of guys I know to help ease me into this. Both team have similar looks, with each having a floppy-haired pretty boy and a balding grump. Takaiwa wins me over pretty quickly by taking a nasty bump to the outside. A series of dives from the apron ends with London hitting a running shooting star press that launches him like a missile. London puts forth a great showing in this match, not only with some perfectly executed moves (his rolling Northern Lights suplex is outstanding), but also the little things like kicking Acid's hand to stop him blocking a stomp to the shoulder from Ki. The two Americans dominate Acid who doesn't really offer much offence aside from a few kicks. Takaiwa fares better, working a nice exchange with Ki over an octopus stretch and possessing a good, painful-looking lariat. Towards the end London gets to hit London Calling, which I still think looks better than Evan Bourne's SSP, but Takaiwa hits him with a double powerbomb into a DVD which is enough for 3. Not mind-blowing, but a pretty enjoyable match.
Kendo Kashin, Kaz Hayashi & Ryuji Hijikata vs Naohiro Hoshikawa, Kazhiko Ogasawara & Yoshihito Sasaki
My WCW fandom ensures I know Kaz and I'm familiar with Kashin from the few other Puro tapes I've seen. He seems like a dick, which I appreciate. As if to prove this, he barges past his teammates during their pre-match interview. A little research informed me that Hoshikawa suffered a brain injury in 2004 and fell into a coma, which is horrible news, though apparently he's in far better shape now than he was for the first few years following. This is AJPW vs Zero-One and starts with a massive brawl before the announcer can identify people, forcing me to Google Image Search the 3 Zero-One guys to find out who is who. The overriding story in this match is that Kashin is an ever bigger dickhead than I thought. Hoshikawa wins me over almost straight away, proving to be a stiff fucker with a lethal arsenal of kicks. Ogasawara is less impressive, barely getting up for two Hayashi backbreakers or a Hijikata judo throw. Kashin's dickery starts early and gets worse, biting the hands of Hoshikawa to break a headlock and pulling the ropes in an attempt to stop Sasaki reaching the ropes to break a submission. I like the fact that Kendo's glory-hunting nearly backfires- Kashin pulls his own partner Hayashi off of Sasaki to try and get the pin himself, only to nearly get pinned following a spear. However, Kashin rallies and gets a cross-armbreaker to get the win for himself, and his team, in a master display of knobbishness.
Tengu Kaiser vs Akio Kobayashi
I've never seen either of these chaps, so this is a new one for me. Kaiser has a sort of Hayabusa look going on, though the mask features a curious looking ski jump nose. The match is pretty bloody poor, all due to Kobayashi, who offered nothing more than a few kicks and was happy to plod about in between them. Kaiser slipped while attempting a springboard move, but was a lot crisper with his kicking and selling, and hit a dazzling Phoenix splash-esque move to win. I got the impression Kaiser could have a good match with a better opponent. This was four minutes but felt much longer.
Masato Tanaka & Kohei Sato vs Daisuke Ikeda & Takashi Sugiura
This is another interpromotional match, this time Z1 vs NOAH, and all four men go at it from the opening bell. Tanaka ends up getting involved in slugfests with both Ikeda and Sugiura, and end up winning both of them. Sato looks like a gangly kid compared to the others and it's no surprise that he ends up as face-in-peril, taking a spike piledriver on the floor. This leads to a fun spot where Ikeda and Sugiura keep picking Sato up from the mat, only to club him back down Demolition-style. The tag sees Tanaka come in like there is Hell to pay, but soon he too is getting beaten by the NOAH team. The second hot tag of the match leads to an exciting ending sprint where all four men are in and out of the ring, all hitting moves that could conceivably finish it: Sato hits a huge German suplex on Ikeda, Tanaka hits a Superfly splash also on Ikeda, who blocks his second attempt with a musclebuster that also only gets two. The finishing sequence sees Sugiura dominating Tanaka, including dumping over his shoulder him onto his neck, only to get hit with a Roaring Elbow for the flash pin. Unlike Kaiser/Kobayashi which felt twice as long as it was, this felt much shorter than it actually was with all four men looking impressive.
Matt Ghaffari, Steve Corino & King Adamo vs Yoshiaka Fujiwara, Wataru Sakata & Katsuhisa Fujii
Corino's team are an odd bunch, Adamo being a tubby grass-skirt wearing savage and Ghaffari being a massive former Olympian. The opening moments see Corino stooging like an old pro for the Japanese team, working a fun headlock spot with the veteran Fujiwara, then exchanging (and losing) strikes with Fujii, who seemed to be working a striker gimmick. Adamo plays the part of a simpleton well (imagine Eugene in Umaga's body), even if he manages to almost botch a stinkface by missing Fujiwara's head. The story behind the match is that the Japanese team are almost powerless against Ghaffari, due to both his size and his Olympic wrestling background, though his moveset consists almost entirely of shoddy looking throws. There is a fun spot where Ghaffari is about to finish off Sakata, only for the simple-minded Adamo to blind tag himself in, to the rage of Ghaffari. However, Ghaffari does pick up the win later with a splash (on which he gets no air) on Sakata. The story and comedy took priority over the ringwork here, but it was at least entertaining.
Yoshihiro Takayama & Hirotaka Yokoi vs The Predator & Jimmy Snuka Jr
Oh great, it's Deuce. We get a pre-match interview from the Predator where he essentially threatens to beat Takayama to a pulp. In the ring, we get to see the full extent of their animosity as they start off with...a test of strength. Then another one, and what promised to be a violent brawl ends up coming off as a damp squib. Against all odds, it's Snuka who impresses most, dominating the smaller Yokoi and hitting a decent slingshot legdrop, before tying Yokoi up in the ropes with a headscissors. Even when he messes up by slipping on an attempted springboard move, he doesn't retry the spot, but opts instead to simply run at his opponent and hurl himself at him. The match follows a basic formula which sees Predator always dominate Yokoi and Takayama always dominate Snuka, but they're pretty much evenly balanced against each other. Takayama gets the win with a big German suplex on Snuka, but Predator takes exception to this and brawls into the crowd with Takayama, sadly showing more aggression and gumption than at any point during the match.
Naoya Ogawa vs Tom Howard
Howard is representing UPW from California, and looks like the guy you'd get to play Guile in a straight-to-DVD Streetfighter II movie. After Howard opens the match by blowing smoke in Ogawa's face (a nice dick move), they work a quick exchange where Ogawa counters all Howard's moves, but Howard takes over with a nice thrustkick to the jaw. Howard puts Ogawa in a leglock which seems to last for hours, as Ogawa S-L-O-W-L-Y inches towards the ropes, but makes absolutely no effort to sell any pain in his leg. Howard then locks in a sleeper, which nearly puts Ogawa away, only for Ogawa to power up and hit Howard with 6 (6!) consecutive STO's to prompt cornerman Steve Corino to throw in the towel. An absolute waste of my time, Howard looked decent in parts, but Ogawa brought nothing to the match.
Shinya Hashimoto & Shinjiro Otani vs Keiji Mutoh & Arashi
Main event time, and it has a definite big match feel, the crowd are noticeably buzzing. Hashimoto and Mutoh start, which only heightens the anticipation, as they gingerly feel each other out, before both tagging out. Likewise, Arashi and Otani, though being more attacking than their partners, don't commit themselves too much, until the Mutoh/Arashi team get an advantage on Otani, at which point their offence really kicks off with a Mutoh Power Elbow. They then work over the leg of Otani, with Mutoh hitting some vicious looking dropkicks to the knee followed by a figure four. Hashimoto is brought in on a hot tag, and successfully blocks a Shining Wizard attempt by Mutoh, but gets caught with a Dragon Screw which puts him in peril. A returning Otani works over Arashi in the corner with some NASTY bootscrapes and a facewash, and the match really starts to heat up. All four men end up in the ring and all four men up on the mat following a series of dropkicks. Arashi works over Hashimoto to allow him to hit a powerbomb on the big man, and Mutoh leaps over the pinfall attempt to hit a huge Shining Wizard on Otani, who was trying to stop the pin, though Arashi only gets two. Mutoh hits another Wizard on Hashimoto then, in a nice touch, ties up Otani with a figure four, leaving Arashi free to hit a top rope splash on Hashi for two. This leads to the ending sequence where Hashimoto gets Arashi in a triangle choke, while Otani has Mutoh in a chickenwing next to them. In a really nice touch, Mutoh keeps fighting, not to escape the hold he's in, but to get an arm over to break the choke on Arashi, really selling how much trouble he knows his partner is in, which is emphasized when Arashi submits moments later. Really enjoyable main event match with really big match atmosphere AND a satisfying conclusion.
Sunday, 5 September 2010
ECW Living Dangerously 2000
Well, here it is, a day later than expected. I bought this on video in the Coventry branch of Cash Generator and it's the first ECW show I saw. Seemed like a good time to rewatch it, what with all the recent ECW nostalgia going on.
Pre-show antics see Cyrus superkicking Joel Gertner to take over colour commentary duties.
Dusty Rhodes vs Steve Corino (Bullrope Match)
More pre-match scenes see Corino insulting the Sandman's wife and kid, which ultimately leads to Rhino goring Lori Fullington through a table, which causes Sandman to miss the TV title tournament tonight. The match is a somewhat plodding affair due to the pace of the 50yr old Dusty. Corino does feed himself to Rhodes like an absolute pro, eating the bionic elbow like a champ. They brawl into the crowd, which is terrible for the home viewer as piss-poor lighting ensures nothing can be seen. Eventually they return to the ring and exchange blows with the cowbell. A second cowbell is introduced and is taped badly to Corino's head, though it barely stays in place, for a chairshot. Big Dust finishes with a Big Dusty Elbow Drop, which is probably the highlight of the match.
Danny Doring & Roadkill vs CW Anderson & Bill Wiles
The Dangerous Alliance stable in ECW always felt like a mixed bag to me. Wiles and Lou E Dangerously both felt like cheap comedy characters, while Anderson was pretty convincing as a new-age Enforcer. His Extreme Horsemen team with Simon Diamond in MLW was far more effective. Both teams feature one guy who is really good on offence in Anderson and Roadkill. Roadkill has some fun bigman offence, including a lovely Bossman Slam. Doring's offence is pretty terrible, with a sloppy Stroke and double arm DDT both looking particularly poor, while Wiles seems to have a problem getting up for his opponents moves. Luckily both are well hidden by some nice double team moves and an Elektra heel turn leads to Anderson hitting a spinebuster on Doring to win a decent match.
Kid Kash vs Mike Awesome
The match is scheduled as Kash facing Simon Diamond, but Simon wisely leaves the ring when Awesome interrupts. This is essentially as much fun as an extended big-vs-small squash can be. Awesome destroys Kash with a massive overhead suplex and hammers him outside the ring. Kash doesn't get much offence in, but what he does get in is very memorable, particularly a plancha from the top rope into the crowd. He also gets a nice rana on Awesome, but gets demolished with a clothesline and Awesomebombed from the top rope through a table for the Awesome win. Short but plenty of fun.
Nova & Chris Chetti vs Jado & Gedo
Watching this match, it's hard to reconcile Nova with Simon Dean. Essentially, this is a spotfest and not a terribly impressive one. Jado and Gedo, as the veteran team, have a few nice double team maneuvers and Chetti has a few surprisingly good suplex variations, but nothing feels coherent and one double pin sequence feels especially contrived. A top rope Tidal Wave wins it for Nova and Chetti
Little Guido vs Super Crazy
This is a semi-final match in the TV title tournament and is fought under Italian Death Match rules. They kick off at quite the fast pace. How fast? Within two minutes of the match starting, Super Crazy is moonsaulting into the crowd on Guido and Big Sal. This is pretty short, most likely to save Crazy for the tournament final later, but they cram some choice moments in. Guido reverses a moonsault from the railings into a Fujiwara armbar in a neat spot, and a Crazy rana on Big Sal is particularly impressive. They let Guido look pretty strong, kicking out of a moonsault and falling through a table but a Super Crazy brain buster ends it.
Kintaro Kanemura vs Balls Mahoney
I hope Heyman didn't pay much to fly out Kanemura, as this match is pretty pointless. It lasts barely three minutes and, though Kanemura hits a nice top rope senton, there is very little to it. Balls wins with the Nutcracker Suite, but gets jumped by Da Baldies, leading to...
New Jack vs Grimes
This match is pretty infamous and ended up having negative repercussions for New Jack. New Jack kills off Da Baldie with a series of weapons before getting jumped by Grimes. It's a pretty cookie-cutter New Jack match until they brawl to the back of the arena and both climb a ricketty looking scaffold. They cautiously fight on the scaffold, then attempt a move which ends with both men falling off, Grimes landing on the skull of Jack. This left Jack with slight brain damage and temporary loss of vision in his right eye. The match was dreadful even before this stupid moment.
Impact Players vs Tommy Dreamer & Masato Tanaka vs Raven & Mike Awesome
Triple threat elimination for the tag team titles. It starts as a real mess, with people brawling everywhere leaving it impossible to follow, though it is easy to spot Raven taking two attempts to break the edge of a table with Dreamer's face. Tanaka and Awesome renew their rivalry, with a roaring elbow taking Awesome out of the match. Things improve dramatically with just two teams, and it dawns on me how good a tag combo Tanaka and Dreamer are. Dreamer is perfect for taking a beating and eliciting sympathy, while Tanaka is a fine hot tag guy with a flurry of fun offence. Sadly, the Impact Players ruin this theory by isolating Dreamer after the hot tag and pinning him following a spike piledriver.
Rhino vs Super Crazy
Like the Guido/Crazy match from earlier, it's pretty short but full of action. They work a decent power-vs-speed match, with the highlight being an impressive press slam to the outside from Rhino. Overbooking ruins the ending however, with a cast of thousands (including Corino, Sandman, RVD, even Scott Anton) being involved which does slightly take the shine off Crazy's eventual win. It's also the main event of a show where only the opener cracked the 10 minute mark, which is pretty disappointing. Super Crazy is the absolute MVP of the show, working two fun sub-ten minute sprints with two very different opponents. The show as a whole is watchable for the main, but probably not worth much more than the £3 I paid for it
Pre-show antics see Cyrus superkicking Joel Gertner to take over colour commentary duties.
Dusty Rhodes vs Steve Corino (Bullrope Match)
More pre-match scenes see Corino insulting the Sandman's wife and kid, which ultimately leads to Rhino goring Lori Fullington through a table, which causes Sandman to miss the TV title tournament tonight. The match is a somewhat plodding affair due to the pace of the 50yr old Dusty. Corino does feed himself to Rhodes like an absolute pro, eating the bionic elbow like a champ. They brawl into the crowd, which is terrible for the home viewer as piss-poor lighting ensures nothing can be seen. Eventually they return to the ring and exchange blows with the cowbell. A second cowbell is introduced and is taped badly to Corino's head, though it barely stays in place, for a chairshot. Big Dust finishes with a Big Dusty Elbow Drop, which is probably the highlight of the match.
Danny Doring & Roadkill vs CW Anderson & Bill Wiles
The Dangerous Alliance stable in ECW always felt like a mixed bag to me. Wiles and Lou E Dangerously both felt like cheap comedy characters, while Anderson was pretty convincing as a new-age Enforcer. His Extreme Horsemen team with Simon Diamond in MLW was far more effective. Both teams feature one guy who is really good on offence in Anderson and Roadkill. Roadkill has some fun bigman offence, including a lovely Bossman Slam. Doring's offence is pretty terrible, with a sloppy Stroke and double arm DDT both looking particularly poor, while Wiles seems to have a problem getting up for his opponents moves. Luckily both are well hidden by some nice double team moves and an Elektra heel turn leads to Anderson hitting a spinebuster on Doring to win a decent match.
Kid Kash vs Mike Awesome
The match is scheduled as Kash facing Simon Diamond, but Simon wisely leaves the ring when Awesome interrupts. This is essentially as much fun as an extended big-vs-small squash can be. Awesome destroys Kash with a massive overhead suplex and hammers him outside the ring. Kash doesn't get much offence in, but what he does get in is very memorable, particularly a plancha from the top rope into the crowd. He also gets a nice rana on Awesome, but gets demolished with a clothesline and Awesomebombed from the top rope through a table for the Awesome win. Short but plenty of fun.
Nova & Chris Chetti vs Jado & Gedo
Watching this match, it's hard to reconcile Nova with Simon Dean. Essentially, this is a spotfest and not a terribly impressive one. Jado and Gedo, as the veteran team, have a few nice double team maneuvers and Chetti has a few surprisingly good suplex variations, but nothing feels coherent and one double pin sequence feels especially contrived. A top rope Tidal Wave wins it for Nova and Chetti
Little Guido vs Super Crazy
This is a semi-final match in the TV title tournament and is fought under Italian Death Match rules. They kick off at quite the fast pace. How fast? Within two minutes of the match starting, Super Crazy is moonsaulting into the crowd on Guido and Big Sal. This is pretty short, most likely to save Crazy for the tournament final later, but they cram some choice moments in. Guido reverses a moonsault from the railings into a Fujiwara armbar in a neat spot, and a Crazy rana on Big Sal is particularly impressive. They let Guido look pretty strong, kicking out of a moonsault and falling through a table but a Super Crazy brain buster ends it.
Kintaro Kanemura vs Balls Mahoney
I hope Heyman didn't pay much to fly out Kanemura, as this match is pretty pointless. It lasts barely three minutes and, though Kanemura hits a nice top rope senton, there is very little to it. Balls wins with the Nutcracker Suite, but gets jumped by Da Baldies, leading to...
New Jack vs Grimes
This match is pretty infamous and ended up having negative repercussions for New Jack. New Jack kills off Da Baldie with a series of weapons before getting jumped by Grimes. It's a pretty cookie-cutter New Jack match until they brawl to the back of the arena and both climb a ricketty looking scaffold. They cautiously fight on the scaffold, then attempt a move which ends with both men falling off, Grimes landing on the skull of Jack. This left Jack with slight brain damage and temporary loss of vision in his right eye. The match was dreadful even before this stupid moment.
Impact Players vs Tommy Dreamer & Masato Tanaka vs Raven & Mike Awesome
Triple threat elimination for the tag team titles. It starts as a real mess, with people brawling everywhere leaving it impossible to follow, though it is easy to spot Raven taking two attempts to break the edge of a table with Dreamer's face. Tanaka and Awesome renew their rivalry, with a roaring elbow taking Awesome out of the match. Things improve dramatically with just two teams, and it dawns on me how good a tag combo Tanaka and Dreamer are. Dreamer is perfect for taking a beating and eliciting sympathy, while Tanaka is a fine hot tag guy with a flurry of fun offence. Sadly, the Impact Players ruin this theory by isolating Dreamer after the hot tag and pinning him following a spike piledriver.
Rhino vs Super Crazy
Like the Guido/Crazy match from earlier, it's pretty short but full of action. They work a decent power-vs-speed match, with the highlight being an impressive press slam to the outside from Rhino. Overbooking ruins the ending however, with a cast of thousands (including Corino, Sandman, RVD, even Scott Anton) being involved which does slightly take the shine off Crazy's eventual win. It's also the main event of a show where only the opener cracked the 10 minute mark, which is pretty disappointing. Super Crazy is the absolute MVP of the show, working two fun sub-ten minute sprints with two very different opponents. The show as a whole is watchable for the main, but probably not worth much more than the £3 I paid for it
Saturday, 4 September 2010
WWE Wrestling's Most Incredible Steel Cage Matches (Disc1)
While visiting my mum this weekend, I found a veritable treasure trove while helping empty her garage: a plethora of old tapes I’d left behind when I moved out years ago. Old WWF Colosseum videos and PPV’s, some ECW, CZW, RoH, XPW, ECWA and a load of best ofs. I’d intended watching ECW Living Dangerously 2000, my first ECW show, but mum’s video machine wasn’t working properly. Instead, I chose disc 1 of this WWE DVD, which had 4 matches that promised a lot.
Bob Backlund vs Pat Patterson (24/09/79)
The match is in Madison Square Garden and it’s held inside a mesh-style cage. The match is joined in progress in the early stages, as Patterson takes control and makes an early attempt to escape via the door. Patterson claws desperately to escape, which I love, in a frenzied attempt to get out. As the match progresses, it becomes clear that the story of the match is less that of an intense hatred, but that both are desperate to leave as champion. There are no big “moves” in the match (the biggest highspot is an atomic drop Backlund gives to Patterson), and most of the damage inflicted comes when they try to stop the opponent escaping, choking and clawing at him to prevent him leaving the cage. There is one really nice moment when both men are climbing the cage, only for Patterson to realise Backlund is closer to escaping than he is and so abandons his attempt to win in order to prevent Bob leaving. The end fits perfectly with the story, Backlund gets a slight advantage and crawls for the door, frantically kicking Patterson away like a wild animal, with the final kick actually propelling Backlund out for the win. A whole heap of fun and different to most other cage matches in execution.
Bruno Sammartino vs Ivan Koloff (15/12/75)
Another MSG match, this time from 1975. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen a Bruno match before, which is a sizeable omission considering he’s the longest reigning WWF Champion in history. Bruno starts off by unloading bombs on the big Russian and it’s kind of fun to see two huge guys unloading on each other, especially as Koloff is bumping huge for Sammartino. It soon becomes clear, though, that this is a very one-sided match. Koloff’s offence is pretty much limited to one top-rope kneedrop and several optimistic attempts to escape (optimistic because he invariably gets in no offence on Bruno before trying unsuccessfully to escape). After a while, it becomes a little tedious, Sammartino dominates throughout, throwing the Russian Bear into the cage repeatedly and controlling the match. You realise Bruno hasn’t tried escaping yet and it feels like he could leave at any time, with the result that, when he does escape, it feels sorely anticlimactic. The crowd loves it though, so what do I know?
Don Muraco vs Jimmy Snuka (17/10/83)
Yeah, you may have heard of this one. The story of this one is pretty simple, aided by Gorilla Monsoon and Pat Patterson on commentary: Muraco wants to leave with his IC title, Snuka simply wants to hurt Muraco. Snuka dominates a lot of the match, though Muraco does get to bust the Superfly open with an impressive looking slingshot into the cage. Snuka is convincingly intense throughout, and Muraco bumps huge for him, including an insane one following a whip to the turnbuckle where he nearly lands on his head. The ending sees Snuka attack Muraco with a headbutt so viciously that it knocks Muraco through the ropes and out of the door, a finish that keeps the title on the Magnificent One and helps keep Snuka looking like a killer. After the match, of course, Snuka hits a Superfly Splash from the top of the cage and the seeds of the career of Mick Foley are planted.
Bob Backlund vs Stan Hansen (06/04/81)
Hansen inside a steel cage promises to be brutal. Certainly Bob Backlund thinks so as he seems very reluctant to enter the cage, prompting Hansen to admonish him with a yell of “Suck it up boy”. When Backlund gets in the ring, the two have a great exchange with Backlund almost giving as good as he gets, though everything Hansen does looks brutal. Backlund resorts to throwing Hansen repeatedly into the cage to wear down the big Texan and it’s fun to see an edgier side of Backlund, kicking Hansen in the bollocks to get the advantage, punching him on his bleeding wound and even “treating” the audience to a little Texas Moon when Hansen tries to escape. The end is pretty anticlimactic, Backlund drops Hansen face first on the turnbuckle and strolls out of the cage, but it’s interesting to note that good ole Bob Backlund has had the two most fun and scrappy cage matches on the disc.
Bob Backlund vs Pat Patterson (24/09/79)
The match is in Madison Square Garden and it’s held inside a mesh-style cage. The match is joined in progress in the early stages, as Patterson takes control and makes an early attempt to escape via the door. Patterson claws desperately to escape, which I love, in a frenzied attempt to get out. As the match progresses, it becomes clear that the story of the match is less that of an intense hatred, but that both are desperate to leave as champion. There are no big “moves” in the match (the biggest highspot is an atomic drop Backlund gives to Patterson), and most of the damage inflicted comes when they try to stop the opponent escaping, choking and clawing at him to prevent him leaving the cage. There is one really nice moment when both men are climbing the cage, only for Patterson to realise Backlund is closer to escaping than he is and so abandons his attempt to win in order to prevent Bob leaving. The end fits perfectly with the story, Backlund gets a slight advantage and crawls for the door, frantically kicking Patterson away like a wild animal, with the final kick actually propelling Backlund out for the win. A whole heap of fun and different to most other cage matches in execution.
Bruno Sammartino vs Ivan Koloff (15/12/75)
Another MSG match, this time from 1975. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen a Bruno match before, which is a sizeable omission considering he’s the longest reigning WWF Champion in history. Bruno starts off by unloading bombs on the big Russian and it’s kind of fun to see two huge guys unloading on each other, especially as Koloff is bumping huge for Sammartino. It soon becomes clear, though, that this is a very one-sided match. Koloff’s offence is pretty much limited to one top-rope kneedrop and several optimistic attempts to escape (optimistic because he invariably gets in no offence on Bruno before trying unsuccessfully to escape). After a while, it becomes a little tedious, Sammartino dominates throughout, throwing the Russian Bear into the cage repeatedly and controlling the match. You realise Bruno hasn’t tried escaping yet and it feels like he could leave at any time, with the result that, when he does escape, it feels sorely anticlimactic. The crowd loves it though, so what do I know?
Don Muraco vs Jimmy Snuka (17/10/83)
Yeah, you may have heard of this one. The story of this one is pretty simple, aided by Gorilla Monsoon and Pat Patterson on commentary: Muraco wants to leave with his IC title, Snuka simply wants to hurt Muraco. Snuka dominates a lot of the match, though Muraco does get to bust the Superfly open with an impressive looking slingshot into the cage. Snuka is convincingly intense throughout, and Muraco bumps huge for him, including an insane one following a whip to the turnbuckle where he nearly lands on his head. The ending sees Snuka attack Muraco with a headbutt so viciously that it knocks Muraco through the ropes and out of the door, a finish that keeps the title on the Magnificent One and helps keep Snuka looking like a killer. After the match, of course, Snuka hits a Superfly Splash from the top of the cage and the seeds of the career of Mick Foley are planted.
Bob Backlund vs Stan Hansen (06/04/81)
Hansen inside a steel cage promises to be brutal. Certainly Bob Backlund thinks so as he seems very reluctant to enter the cage, prompting Hansen to admonish him with a yell of “Suck it up boy”. When Backlund gets in the ring, the two have a great exchange with Backlund almost giving as good as he gets, though everything Hansen does looks brutal. Backlund resorts to throwing Hansen repeatedly into the cage to wear down the big Texan and it’s fun to see an edgier side of Backlund, kicking Hansen in the bollocks to get the advantage, punching him on his bleeding wound and even “treating” the audience to a little Texas Moon when Hansen tries to escape. The end is pretty anticlimactic, Backlund drops Hansen face first on the turnbuckle and strolls out of the cage, but it’s interesting to note that good ole Bob Backlund has had the two most fun and scrappy cage matches on the disc.
Everyday Is Like Tom Zenk: Can-Am Connection vs Sika & Kamala
Yes! This is exactly the kind of glorious wrestling madness I wanted to rediscover when I undertook this opus. The Can-Am's of Tom Zenk and Rick Martel are a team I've always wanted to see more of, and check out that opposition. In kayfabe terms, that's a sensational mix of monsters. Adding to the lunacy is George Steele on commentary, contributing nothing more than grunts. The big fellas dominate the early stages, but Zenk wriggles free when Kamala tries to splash him against Sika. Martel tags in and Kamala bumps huge over the top rope for a Martel dropkick. With Sika left alone in the ring, Martel uses his quickness to elude the wild Samoan's attacks and ground him with an armdrag. Zenk comes in and continues the assault on Sika's left arm. Sika's strength allows him to take control again, allowing him and Kamala to work over Zenk. The savages work over Zenk with some basic, if fun offence, including a spot where Kamala rams Zenk headfirst into the thick Samoan skull of Sika. The hot tag comes out of nowhere and leads to all four men in the ring. Martel stops Kamala hitting Air Africa on Zenk and then hits a sloppy crossbody on Sika to win. Despite the hot tag literally coming from nowhere, this was good fun, especially with the heels being the kind of larger-than-life monsters that make for enjoyable tag encounters. Zenk kind of got shafted though, barely getting in any offence with Martel clearly positioned as the dominant Can-Am.
Can-Am's vs Sika & Kamala
Can-Am's vs Sika & Kamala
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